


Darkness Brings Evil Things (Oh, the Reckoning Begins)

by AngelWithAStory



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Drabble, Episode Spoilers, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Short One Shot, my poor boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-18 04:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11283555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelWithAStory/pseuds/AngelWithAStory
Summary: Somewhere in Whitestone, Taryon realises.MAJOR SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 102





	Darkness Brings Evil Things (Oh, the Reckoning Begins)

**Author's Note:**

> me: *abandons one angst fic to immediately write another angstier fic*  
> AKA my boy was mentioned and i got sad
> 
> i am also one exam away from leaving school completely and sad about that so here's a short sad thing based on something sad that sam said in the episode. wow that was a lot of s's in that sentence. 
> 
> fun fact: an alternate title to this fic is: I Don't Wanna be the Only One living (When All of My Friends are Gone) but i thought that might be too spoilery
> 
> title is from The Yawning Grave, alternate title is Frozen Pines, both are by Lord Huron who is so VM it's unreal.

Tary knew he would miss Whitestone. He knew he would miss the people in it most of all. Vex, the absolute most probably. And Percy too, but that was a different ache in his heart and one that he knew he could get past.

Doty was halfway finished now. In a few days he would be fully functional again, and then he could start heading back to Wildmount with that Lionel fellow. And then he had a Brigade to build up. And he could fix his family name and fix his _family_.

Tary stood up from his work. The sun was setting lower in the sky and the gnaw in his stomach warned him that he should eat soon. He tried to not miss the twin’s or Pike’s gentle knock on his door warning him to get something to eat if he stayed inside for too long.

The kettle took its sweet time to boil. Vex had gotten into the habit of storing coffee in her house for her two tinker roommates, but it was usually Percy who drank it. Tary wondered if he’d ever smell coffee again without thinking of late mornings discussing new plans with Percival.

He touched the charm around his neck absently, thinking of his friends. The books of the Shadowfell from the Castle’s library lay open in his room. Idle curiosity. He knew they were safe. He knew that they would come home safe, even if he wasn’t there to greet them when they came back.

The charm pulsed.

The cup shattered against the polished wooden floor.

Tary couldn’t breathe. He gripped the counter so hard his knuckles turned white.

Floor met his knees and Tary squeezed his eyes shut. He gripped the charm hard enough to draw blood. There were tears on his face that he didn’t remember crying. All he could think of was _who?_

Who fell?

 _Vex_? Percy? Pike?

Was it Vax? Again? Or Keyleth, despite all her power?

It couldn’t be Scanlan, he didn’t have a charm, did he?

It seemed impossible that it could have been Grog. Then again, Tary had seen some pretty impossible things.

The charm still pulsed in his hand. Steady as a heartbeat.

Someone had died.

One of his friends - his _family_ , he dared to think - was dead now. Maybe more than one. Maybe they were all dead and maybe he could have saved them or helped them or died alongside them but he _hadn’t_.

He’d stayed.

Like a coward, he’d stayed. And he left them.

Small drops fell to the ground by his knees and Tary could barely keep himself upright. Could barely think right. He was shaking. He was speechless.

He kept remembering their faces. Their smiles. Their good-natured banter and their loving insults. Their fighting styles, their warm hearts, the rage in their hearts.

The though of never seeing those faces again was the thought that finally broke him. He cried harder - harder than he had cried in his entire life. He clutched the necklace until it left indents in his palm and his neck. The floor was cool under his side as he curled up, his entire body shaking. 

It was no small mercy when he finally blacked out. 

**Author's Note:**

> swing by my tumblr at [queenmoggy](http://queenmoggy.tumblr.com/) if you want to see the girl behind the fic


End file.
